When Only the Best Will Do
by AthenaIceGoddess
Summary: Sg1Atlantis crossover.A new threat emerges for Earth AND Atlantis. The Goa'uld and the Wraith have made contact, and are about to negotiate a partnership that could prove deadly for humankind everywhere. Can the combined teams stop the summit? READ ME!
1. Chapter 1

**Author: Katelin Mason**

**(AthenaIceGoddess)**

**Title: When only the best will do**

**Spoilers: Minor ones from both series, probably mostly SG-1 season 8 and Atlantis season 2**

**Action/Adventure-Angst**

**Summary: A new threat emerges for Earth AND Atlantis. The Goa'uld and the Wraith have made contact, and are about to negotiate a partnership that could prove deadly for humankind everywhere. The original SG-1 is brought back together, and they need help from someone who knows the Wraith, so Sheppard's team is brought in.**

**Disclaimer: Stargates SG-1 and Atlantis belong to MGM and many others who, unfortunately, aren't me. I'm getting no money from writing this, so please don't sue me :).**

**A/n: This is my first attempt at a crossover, and it's going to be a bit convoluted. A bit AU as well. Mitchell, while I love him dearly, isn't in the picture, and Ronon is. It's set pre-season 9 for Sg-1, and in season 2 for Atlantis. Impossible, I know, but I had to write it. Shep/Teyla pairing and Sam/Jack, so be warned. Fluffiness might occur. And Jacob is NOT dead. I'm still in denial.**

**Now, enough of my babbling. Enjoy!**

Chapter Samantha Carter was running late for a very important briefing with General O'Neill. Of course, General O'Neill thought every briefing he had to give was too important to miss, so she probably wasn't missing much. She hoped.

"Sam! Why aren't you in the briefing room? You're never late. Is something wrong?" Sam turned and waited for Daniel to catch up with her.

Showing him her coffee and a piece of pie, she explained. "I've been working on a new project that's been taking all my time- really, it's one of the most interesting things I've worked on in a while. I'm tweeking one of the Tok'ra's field generators to make the field bigger so it could encompass- well, it's not important right now." She stopped at the blank look on Daniel's face- they had all been hanging around general O'Neill far too long if things were starting to rubb off- and remembered to contain her tangent for another time.

"Well, I was so engrossed working on this project that-" Daniel was nodding in understanding. "You didn't go home last night, did you?" She shook her head. "I got a few hours sleep in the BOQ when I realized what time it was, but I needed coffee."

"Is the pie for Jack?" Daniel asked, eyeing the piece of apple pie. Sam nodded. "I figured if I brought him pie he'd forget I was late. Think it'll work?"

"Oh yeah, it'll work." Daniel agreed as they walked into the briefing room. Jack would agree not to berathe if a piece of pie was waved at him. Not that he'd really mind Carter being late. In fate he'd probably applaud her for her stopping for food.

General O'Neill looked up at them when they entered, putting the yoyo he had been playing with back into the front pocket of blue uniform.

"I'm sorry I'm late sir, we were-" Sam started apologizing, but Jack's eyes were on the pie. "Is that for me?" He asked hopefully. A grin spread across Sam's face and she handed him the pie.

"Ahhh, pie. Thanks, Carter. How did you know I didn't eat yet?" The General asked, his mouth full of the treat, just like a little kid.

"No fruitloops at the commissary this morning, sir?" Carter asked sympathetically. "No! You'd think that they'd keep such an important breakfast meal in stock, but no. Cheerios. Who likes Cheerios?"

Carter pretended to be hurt. "I like Cheerios, sir. Not as much as blue Jell-o, but they're good."

O'Neill waved his hand at her. "Bah, red's better anyway."

Daniel grinned down at the table so his friends couldn't see him smiling at their antics. It was nice to see them falling back into old habits. Things had been tense between them for a few months.

No doubt the betting pool would heat up again now that Sam and Pete had broken off their engagement, not that that was a surprise to anyone. Everyone on base knew how the General felt about Colonel Carter and vice versa. The only thing they seemed to disagree about was when they would finally say screw the regs and give it a go.

Teal'c noticed Daniel's smile and raised his eyebrow at him. "Is there something that is amusing you, Daniel Jackson?" Sam and Jack immediately stopped their flirting, and stared at Daniel. Leave it to Teal'c to be blunt and ruin the moment.

"No, no.Nothing amusing, Teal'c. Let's start the briefing now." Daniel cleared his throat. "So, Jack, what's going on?" He asked, and the general gestured for the team to pick up the folders in front of them.

"A few hours ago, we recieved from information from the Tok'ra. They said one of their operatives stationed on a Goa'uld ship heard an interesting rumor. Now, we all know what I think about the Tok'ra and their interesting rumors," He grimaced and coughed a cough that sounded remarkably like 'za'tarcs', remembering all the times the Tok'ra had gotten them into hot water, "But this one is a bit _too_ interesting to ignore. Although I'd love nothing more than to ignore their snakey asses. No offense to your dad, Carter. He's the only good one." He paused in typical Jack fashion before continuing.

"The operative said that the gould he was spying on was talking to another gould about some upcoming big meeting between what's left of the system lords and- I'm quoting here- ' some foolish, inferior beings from another galaxy'."

"Did they say what galaxy they were from?" Daniel asked, frowning. Jack stretched. "Nope, but he did say that the other 'inferior beings' were having a pesky people problem. Aparently there isn't enough of them to go around where they're from. Apparently they suck people's life forces where they're from."

"The Wraith." Carter said, sucking in a breath. If the Wraith and the Goa'uld got together... that wouldn't be very good. A Goa'uld with a Wraith for a host... Carter had'nt seen the Wraith herself, but from what she heard about them, they were bad.

"That's what I'm thinking." Jack replied. "Well, we've got to stop this! They can't- It would be disastrous!" Daniel sputtered.

"Relax, Danny boy. We will. The Tok'ra who overheard this also gave us the co-ordinates where this is going to go down. Sg-1 will go. I think I'll go on this one, actually. You'll need me." Jack said with a grin. He was just bored with paperwork and being stuck on base while his friends went off into danger without him. He didn't want to get rusty.

"Can we do this alone, sir?" Carter asked. "Of course we can, Carter! It's Sg-1." Jack replied, surprised that Carter would even ask such a thing.

"That's not what I mean, sir. We don't have any experience fighting the Wraith ourselves. We don't know how to take them out quickly. From the reports on them I've read from the Atlantis expedition, they're resilient buggers. I'm thinking we should bring in an Atlantis team to go with us."

Jack thought it over. Carter had a point, there. If this was going to go down in their favour, they needed as much help as they could get. Things needed to go smoothly, and tyring to figure out exactly how many bullets would kill a Wraith in an ambush wouldn't be too smooth.

"Yeah, we could do that. The Dedalus is due back here in a few days, it shouldn't be too much trouble for Caldwell to turn around and pick up a few passengers." And if it is, that's too bad, Jack thought. They needed another team's help for this to work.

"I'll have Walter send a transmission." Carter said, standing up. Jack nodded, and she left to do just that.

"Dismissed." Jack said. "I'll go see if there's anything we can use in the mission briefs from Atlantis about the Wraith." Daniel told Jack, getting up to leave.

" I will accompany you, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c said, bowing to Jack before following Daniel.

Jack looked around the empty briefing room. "I'll go... do something."

**Next Chapter: SGA-1 gets the news and heads for Earth.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks to my reviewers, I love you guys:) Of course O'Neill COULD have them flown in, but where would be the fun in that?_

Chapter 2

(Atlantis)

"SGA-1 to the briefing room immediately, SGA-1 to the briefing room immediately." Teyla Emmagan blocked Sheppard's latest attack and stopped the sparring match.

"Huh. Wonder what this is about?" Sheppard mused, putting his sticks back in his bag. "Let's go." Sheppard told Teyla, letting her go out of the room first.

"That sounded like Dr. Weir. We should hurry." Teyla advised, and they picked up the pace. To be honest, she didn't really want to go to a briefing. John had been improving in his sparring style, and he was becoming more of a challenging apponent. Things were just getting interesting when the summons halted their match.

"You have been practicing, Colonel." Teyla said, and Sheppard smiled down at her. "Well let's just say I was getting tired of always ending up on the mat. Not that there's anything wrong with losing to a woman." He teased when he caught her look.

"I do not think you will be winning any time soon yet Colonel. I have been going easy on you." Teyla teased back.

Before Sheppard could retort, a panting Rodney McKay caught up to them, holding a diagnostic instrument. "What's going on? I was in the middle of running a test on that depleted ZPM we found on P4A- 672. I think I might have found a way to... repower it."

John looked at him. "'Repower it'? That doesn't sound like a technical term, McKay." Rodney just smirked back. "I was trying to find a term you would understand."

"Oh. How thoughtful." John replied, walking into the briefing room to find Ronon, Caldwell, and Elizabeth already there. By the looks on Elizabeth and Caldwell's faces, this wasn't a routine briefing.

"What's going on?" Sheppard asked suspiciously, taking a seat beside Teyla.

She didn't waste any time starting. "We just recieved word from the SGC. The Wraith somehow managed to find a way to send a message to the Goa'uld, and they're going to meet to talk about forming a partnership of sorts."

"The Wraith do not have partnerships." Teyla interrupted. "Yes, but the Wraith want to find a way to Earth. They know our galaxy has a veritable feast of healthy human hosts for them to feed upon." Weir told her.

"Plus they probably want to size up the gould, see what they'd be like as possible enemies." Sheppard added with a nod.

"And the gould probably want to see if the Wraith would make good hosts." Caldwell said with a frown.

"So maybe they'll annihilate each other and get off of our backs. Wouldn't that be nice?" Rodney said. "Yeah, but it would be way too easy. And from what I've heard of these 'gould' they aren't a match for the Wraith." Ronon said, testing the sharpness of a blade against his thumb.

Rodney shuddered as Ronon licked the blood from his thumb. "Could you not do that... ever? Ugh, do you know what infections could be on that thumb? I did a study on it- you don't care." He finished flatly at Ronon's glare.

"Can we get back to the problem at hand please?" Elizabeth asked, calling their attention back to the possible doom of humankind.

"General O'Neill knows where this is going to happen, and he wants one of our teams to accompany his team to sabotage this meeting. You're going to be that team who goes. You have the most experience fighting the Wraith, and Teyla, your ability to sense them will come in handy."

Sheppard nodded, while Rodney just looked like he was going to be sick. "When are we going?" Sheppard asked.

"As soon as you're ready. This thing is happening in less than a month, so we need to go ASAP." Caldwell said.

The team stood up. "We'll be ready in ten, Colonel." Sheppard told the Caldwell, turning to leave.

"_Ten minutes!_ I can't be ready in ten minutes! What do we take? What do we need?" Rodney sputtered, following John out of the room.

"We're going to EARTH, McKay. What could you possibly need that they won't have there? Just grab your mission stuff and get to the Dedalus." John walked to his quarters, leaving McKay to get to his room at a run.

Fifteen minutes later, the team-except for Mckay- was on the Dedalus, ready to set out. McKay ran in, gasping.

"You're late, Dr.Mckay." Caldwell said, eyeing the doctor with an unreadable expression. "Oh, well excuse me for not being as efficient as you military types." He snarked back, but Caldwell just grinned and turned to the front of the ship.

"Let's go, Lieutenent." He told the pilot, a petite blonde. It would take them 18 days to get to Earth, 18 days the SGA team had to read up on everything they could about the Goa'uld.

"Lieutenent Parker will show you to your quarters." Caldwell told Sheppard's team, effectively dismissing them.

"If you'll some with me, sir." A thin Air Force officer said, leading the team down the hall to crew quarters. He pointed out four rooms, and went back to the bridge.

" Well, let's all get comfortable. And catch up on our reading..." Sheppard said, nodding to his team member and walking into his room. It could have been worse. At least the bed had a decent mattress, something McKay couldn't complain about.

Sheppard saw a stack of folders on the nightstand marked top secret, and flopped down onto the bed with one. If this mission was going to go well, they'd need every edge they could get.

**A/N: I know, it's pretty slow right now, but next chapter it'll pick up when the Dedalus reaches Earth. Stay tuned! And review revire review:)**


	3. Chapter 3

_Oh, believe me, Rodney will definately find something to complain about! He just wouldn't be Rodney if he didn't! Thanks for the spellings, I'll make sure to correct that. As for the Goa'uld/gould spelling, if you use close captioning, that's how Jack and Daniel usually pronounce it :) And yes, I absolutely LOVE firefly! Keep the reviews coming:)_

Chapter 3

Carter sighed as she watched the newest SG-1 wannabe step through the gate.General O'Neill had decided to send SG-1-plus Lieutenent Micheals- on a standard reconnaissance mission to P4A- 469 to gauge the new Lieutenent's suitability for the flagstaff team. So far, Carter wasn't impressed.

Sure, she was qualified to be on one of the SG teams, and it would be great to have another woman on the team, but she just didn' t feel right. She didn't fit with the team dynamic.

'Sure Carter, and while you're making up excuses as to why this lovely young lady can't be on your team, let's add that she's not O'Neill, and no one could ever take his place on the team.' She thought miserably. Carter missed her C.O' biting humour and laid-back personality. And she missed him, but she would never admit it to anyone but herself.

"Be nice, Carter." The General said from the control room, as if reading her mind. She grinned back at him before stepping through the gate.

MALP telemetry showed P4A 469 as an arboreal planet, just trees, moss and more trees. Plus some rocks.It wasn't believed to be inhabited, which is why SG-1 was there. Nice and easy mission for Micheals.

"Teal'c, take point. We'll be on your six." Teal'c bowed slightly and went about his task with the solemnity thathe went about everything with.

"This is so exciting ma'am! I mean, can you believe we're on another planet? Well of course you believe it, you've been on tons of planets, but stillI never thought that I'd be on another planet when I joined the Air Force!" Micheals cried, practically bouncing with delight.

Carter rolled her eyes at Daniel, who just smiled and stared ahead. "Yeah, it's not exactly in the general job description. Daniel, what goa'uld do you think are going to be involved in this meeting?" She asked, hoping Micheals would get the hint and shut up. Carter knew she was being mean, but Micheals was the fifth unfit recruit she'd had to deal with. Why did SG-1 have to have four members anyway?

"Oh, probably Nir'ti if she's still around, and Ba'al. Some lower level system Lords will probably show up too, just to see if they can get anything out of it. We'll be finding out for ourselves soon enough. The Daedalus should be on Earth in four or five days." Daniel replied, stopping to sneeze into a kleenex.

"Ugh, those flowers are making my allergies act up. I should have stayed on base." He muttered, sniffing.

The team walked to the edge of the woods and gasped at what they saw. "Oh, wow! Those look Roman!" Daniel cried, running over to the ruins, allergies forgotten in the excitement of the ruins. Brushing off bits of grass, He pushed his glasses farther up on his nose.

"Yep. Definately Roman. This is amazing! It's the first indication that the gould brought Romans through the gate. I have to catalogue these markings. They have the basics, but it looks like the language has evolved over the years."

Carter left Daniel to ponder over the ruins with Micheals, who it seems had an interest in ancient Rome, and went with Teal'c to see if the locals were still around.

"Teal'c, what do you think of Lieutenent Micheals?" Carter asked the big Jaffa. She wasn't sure if she was judging the young woman too harshly, and Teal'c would give her his honest opinion.

"I believe that Lieutenent Micheals is a good warrior. I have seen her in combat and her skill is great." Not what Carter wanted to hear.

"But do you think that she would do well with us?" 'please say no!' "No." Teal'c replied, stopping and rising his staff weapon.

"What is it?" Carter asked, following his example and raising her weapon. A snap in the forest beside them gave her her answer. Someone was out there.

"Hello?" She called, keeping her P-90 at the ready. Another snap, followed by a series of snaps came, and Carter got a sense of foreboding.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this. I don't think they- whoever they are- are friendly." She said, sweeping the woods with her eyes.

"Indeed." Teal'c replied, just as a javelin landed at his feet. "Ok, definately not friendly. Let's leave." Carter said, and they turned and ran.

By the time they reached Daniel and Micheals, they had a battalion of soldiers chasing them with swords and spears. "Daniel! Micheals! We've gotta go!" She yelled.

"What did you do?" Daniel yelled back. "Maybe we can talk to them! Daniel knows their language!" Micheals said.

Carter just grabbed her by her arm and dragged her behind her. "Do they LOOK like they want to talk?" Micheals looked back and shook her head. "Exactly. Now move!" Carter told her, mentally scratching her off the eligability list.

When they got back, General O'Neill was the first in the control room. "What happened?" He asked, looking at the spear lying on the ramp.

"We met the locals, sir. They weren't exactly friendly. As you can see." Carter said, wincing as she moved her shoulder. A spear had glanced her shoulder, leaving a painful gash.

"Huh. Well, get to the infirmiry and get that checked out. Is everyone else ok?" The General asked, and they nodded.

"Yeah, we're fine." Daniel said, shoving his hat in his pocket. "Good." Jack replied, and the team headed for the infirmiry.

"Carter, when you're done in the infirmiry, I want to see you in my office." He told his 21C, who nodded and walked to the infirmiry.

About 20 minutes later, Carter walked into his office. "You wanted to see me, sir?" She asked.

"Yep. What do you think of Micheals? Is she the next member of SG-1?" The General asked, playing with his yoyo.

"No, sir. Definately not. We had a battalion of soldiers chasing us with primitive weapons,trying to either kill or capture us, and she wanted to talk to them! She would be good with Sg-12 as a diplomat, but she definately isn't going to be on my team, sir." Sitting down, Carter stared imploringly into Jack's eyes.

"Sir, why does SG-1 have to have four members? We've been together for the last eight years, we know each other inside and out. Bringing another person in will just screw us up." Jack sighed. He really wanted to give in, those blue eyes would always be his undoing. But he couldn't.

"Carter-Sam. You know I'd let you guys just have three, but it isn't up to me. The Pentagon says every SG team has to have four members. You'll find someone." He told her.

For a second, they just stared at each other. Carter snapped out of it first. "Was that all, sir?" She asked, hoping it wasn't but knowing it was.

"Yeah. That's it." He said, and watched her leave.

**A/N: This is basically just a filler chapter that I felt like writing. I promise things pick up in Ch.4, when the Daedalus gets to earth. Keep reviewing!**


	4. Chapter 4

_sorry for the long wait between chapters! Things have been crazy with exams and life stuff, but I'll be putting out more chapters now. Thanks for reviewing!_

Chapter 4

**The Daedalus**

Sheppard was bored enough that he was counting the lines on the ceiling. 55, 56... They had been on the ship for sixteen days and- he checked his watch- twenty hours. Not that he was counting or anything. He checked his watch again. And 23 minutes.

He'd retreated to his quarters to escape Rodney's incessent whining after the latest round of complaints. 'You'd think that the people who built this ship would at least get some mattresses that are comfortable! Soldiers are supposed to be ready to... shoot things in case of... well anyway, I'm putting in a complaint when we get back to Earth!'

With a groan, Sheppard rolled off of his bed. There was no way he was getting any sleep, so he might as well go see if he could scrounge something up in the kitchen.

He walked into the kitchen area whistling, but stopped when he saw the familiar curvy figure of Teyla sitting in one of the chairs situated around the table. She looked like she was far away from the ship and it's occupants, staring out the window.

John couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked with her reddish- brown hair spilling over her shoulders. In fact, he probably would have stood there for a while, leaning against the doorframe and staring at her if she didn't choose that moment to turn around and notice him.

"Colonel." She looked behind him, as if expecting to see someone standing there. "You are up late." A small smile graced her lips as he entered the room.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. What about you? Uncontrollable urge for Ben and Jerry?" He asked, gesturing to the open carton of ice cream sitting in front of her. He grabbed a chair, spun it around, and sat down across beside her- making sure he was far enough away so he wouldn't arouse suspicion if anyone else happened to come in.

Teyla stuck a spoon into the ice cream and took a large mouthful. "I could not sleep either. I seem to have developed a -sweet tooth?- for this particular flavour. Cheery Vanilla, I believe it is called."

John grabbed her spoon and the ice cream and followed her example. "Cherry Vanilla. It's one of my favorites too." They sat in companiable silence for a minute, sharing the cold treat.

"So, you're finally going to get to see my planet." John said, already making up a mental list of things he was going to show her after the mission was over. He couldn't wait to show her the wonders of his planet.

"I do not thnik that a tour of your planet for me is the first thing on the minds of your superiors, while it would be interesting. I will see the inside of the base we are going to. Perhaps after the mission is over, if all goes as planned, you could show me your ferris wheels." Teyla had been wondering about ferris wheels since she had met John.

Grinning, John ate the last bite of the ice cream. "Definately. I'll take you to an amusement park. I bet you'd love cotton candy." He would also love for her to meet his sister, but wasn't sure what that meant on her world, meeting the family. For all that he knew, meeting the family to her people meant that you were engaged or something.

Teyla smiled at John's excitement. At times like this, John was much like a young child. It was one of the many things she enjoyed about him. She would enjoy spending time with him on his planet if it was allowed.

" What are the Goa'uld like? Could they be a danger to the Wraith?" Teyla asked, reluctantly breaking the spell that had been cast around them. She had asked many aboard the ship, but it seemed like those she asked didn't know much about them.

John fiddled with the spoon. "I really don't know much more then you do. I wasn't even supposed to be on this expedition. The only reason I'm here is because I can't seem to follow orders. I found out about the ancients and Atlantis when I sat down in one of those chairs. After Elizabeth found out I had the gene, she insisted I was on her team. So there wasn't really any time to brief me on something that I wouldn't be running into anyway."

"All I know is that they're parasites that take human hosts and then pose as gods. That and they have a healthy like of themselves." John said, grinning.

"That was the extent of my knowledge as well." Teyla said with a yawn. "I believe I will head back to my quarters. We are arriving tommorrow, are we not?" She asked, stifling another yawn.

"Well, it'll be today now, but yeah. Sleep would be a good idea. 'Night, Teyla." "Goodnight, John. Sleep well."

Caldwell called the team to the bridge when they were in orbit around Earth. "Ready to go kick some gould ass, Colonel?" Caldwell asked, sounding a bit annoyed that he couldn't go as well.

"Yes, sir. Wraith ass too. Sorry you can't come." Sheppard said. Caldwell just ignored him. "We should be setting down in about ten minutes, so make sure you're ready."

"All we need is our weapons and ourselves, so we're ready sir." John replied, patting his P-90 and then frowning. He was spending too much time around Ronon. Next he would be shining it up and wearing it 24/7. And attacking peolpe for trying to take it.

After the ship landed, the team was hurried into an unmarked van that screamed 'government issue' to anyone who noticed it.

Rodney immediately buckled up and sank down into the surprisingly comfortable seats. "Finally! Someone who knows what the word 'comfort' means. This is more like it." He muttered.

"Yes, Rodney, I'm sure they did all this for you." John replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes at Teyla, who just smiled in that serene way of hers and looked out the window.

It only took about half an hour to get to the base, and they were immediately ushered into the briefing room of the SGC.

SG-1 was waiting for them, looking worried and terse. "Sit down, make yourselves comfortable." General O'Neill said, looking serious then Sheppard had previously thought possible. Something had happened.

"What's going on?" Rodney asked after leering in Colonel Carter's direction and getting a glass of water.

" The Tok'ra screwed up again." O'Neill said, smirking and shaking his head. Carter took over. "The information the operative heard was wrong. The summit that was supposed to take place in two days is taking place today. In exactly twelve hours."

"Will that be enough time?" Teyla asked, worry creasing her brow.

"Well, it'll be tight, but we should be able to make it. The Wraith and the Goa'uld are meeting on Ba'al's ship in orbit over P5A- 906. We sent a team to check out the area, and right now we're in luck. Ba'al has his ship on the ground right now, and there aren't any guards posted outside. We should be able to sneak right in."

"Just like that." Rodney said, looking like he was about to argue. "Piece of cake, Rodney. We've done crazier things then that and lived to talk about it." Sheppard said, clapping his hand roughly on the scientists shoulder to slience him. It sounded easy enough, sneak in, blow some stuff up so the two alien races would think it was the other, and crash the summit. Now, all that had to happen was for everything to work according to plan.


End file.
